The inability to locate one""s parked car can be very annoying. This problem is so common that many parking ramps have golf carts to drive people around to help them find their cars.
In a flat open-air parking lot, a GPS receiver could be used. However, the GPS signal is not present inside multi-level parking ramps and thus cannot be used alone for car location.
A large number of inventions have been directed toward the problem of locating cars. These can basically be classified into two types. The mechanical or flashing light identifier is the first type. The second type is for location of the car in an emergency.
Illustrative of the patents of the first type is the invention of Bohn (U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,803) in which various flags and flashing lights are mounted on the car. The invention of Nashina, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,933) features a magnetically mounted flag. The invention of Lalo (U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,938) features a flag that mounts in a window. Romesburg (U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,525) teaches a flag mounted on an automobile antenna. Gross (U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,121) teaches an essentially fluorescent flag. Tremblay (U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,218) teaches a flashing light for the roof of the car. Bullock (U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,758) teaches lights and shades for identifying the car, and Anders, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,215) teaches a bright colored flag and a flashing bulb on the end of a mast.
Car locators of the emergency type teach activation by an accident or a theft report. They then typically rely on a GPS signal or some other conventional location technique such as cellular phone timing. These include the patents of Sorden (U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,197), Watters, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,324), Lemelson, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,161), Janky, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,183), Hawkes, et al. (U.S. Pat. No.5,973,643), and Sheffer, et al. (U.S. Pat. No.5,218,367).
Other location inventions include Krasner (U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,119) which locates diving objects and Cox (U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,272) for monitoring a child or pet.
The electronics of radio direction timing is dealt with in several US patents. Illustrative of these are the inventions of Buford, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,948), Aljadeff, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,196), Yokev, et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,596,330; 5,592,180; 5,583,517; and 5,379,047), and Leitch (U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,342).
In spite of decades of work on radio direction finding for military and government uses and the widely understood need for a practical car locator, no practical car locator has been taught.
The basic object of this invention is a small hand-held locator for the automobile operator which will attach to a key chain or fit in a wallet, pocket, or purse. This small portable unit will communicate with a unit attached to an automobile to enable the operator to locate the automobile. It is a further object of this invention to locate children or pets. The applications of the disclosed technique could be used to locate a large number of objects such as motor vehicles, boats, human beings and animals. It is a further object of this invention to use the air pressure to direct one to the correct floor in a parking ramp. Another object is a car locator without radio communication but rather by navigation to a stored location. It is a further object of this invention to navigate to a desired object by the use of velocity, position, acceleration, GPS, magnetic field, radio frequency, audio frequency, or local navigation system or any combination of these.
It is a further object of this invention to use a cellular phone as a card locating device. It is a further object of this invention to have an apparatus conveniently store floor and zone information.